Here Be Mermaids
by MsLane
Summary: Beca and Stacie are two of the youngest skippers to ever compete in the Vendée Globe, a non-stop, round-the-world solo-handed yacht race, without assistance. Chloe and Aubrey have always been fascinated by these races and the sailors that choose to partake in these races. Mermaid AU
1. Chapter 1

Not many of Chloe's friends understood why she enjoyed the races as much as she did. Even when she tried to explain it to them.

"It's not even that exciting after watching the first couple of races."

"They're not all the same races though! There are so many different categories!"

Chloe, even though she knows it doesn't matter at all, still tries to make her point every single time anyone says anything in that regard.

And it's usually at this time during the conversation that her friends roll their eyes and swim away, their tails moving swiftly as they cut through the water quickly, tittering at Chloe's predictable response.

When Chloe was but the tender age of three, just getting the hand of navigating the ocean floor, swimming through upwelling and downwelling and submarine rivers, she had first caught sight of long shadows drifting overhead, speeding across the surface of the ocean.

It was Chloe's mother who had been the one to tell her of this other world outside of theirs. The human world; the world of the land dwellers. And it was Chloe's mother who told her of the journey that sailors would sometimes undertake for the simple love of adventure and the ocean, racing against other likeminded adventurers, in the form of bedtime stories ever since.

"And these sailors swim across the world all alone in their boats," she pauses and looks down at a barely awake four-year-old Chloe, "they can't swim very fast or as well as us you know."

Chloe sleepily giggles, "They don't have fins."

Smiling softly her mother replies, "That's right my sweet."

"I wanna see them momma."

Speaking even softer, Chloe drifting off to sleep faster and faster now, "What do you want to see my sleepy Chloe?"

As Chloe's big blue eyes finally completely disappear behind heavy eyelids she murmurs out, "Mm everything," and Chloe's mother smiles lovingly down at her as she kisses her forehead.

* * *

Due to her fascination, as Chloe grew older and her understanding expanded, Chloe's mother continued to teach her more and more things about the humans, which only served to make her even more fascinated by these races.

Once Chloe was about fifteen, her mother took her up to the surface to get a better look at these boats and humans which helped her get a better sense and understanding of them, as they sailed by.

"It's so long!" Chloe exclaims as she swims below the length of the boat, never having realized they'd be so big from so far below.

Her mother laughs beautifully, "It's certainly not the longest in this race, look over there." Her mother points and Chloe swims out from under the boat to look in the direction her mother was pointing and sure enough, a little ways away was an even longer yacht making its way faster through the water.

Chloe's eyes widen and she quickly swims over to it.

She cant wait for nightfall now, when it will be safer for them to breach the surface and really get close. She had been excited about it before but now she was even more so.

* * *

Chloe wasn't the only young mermaid to be fascinated by these races and the humans, and luckily for her, Aubrey was also her best friend so it made things quite easy.

After every race, neither one of them could wait for the next one to begin, and they could get a little bit much right before and right after these races, a time when all they could really talk about is the race.

This year though, rather than simply wait for the boats to come by their part of the ocean and swim alongside the boats for a day or two in the middle of the race, both Chloe and Aubrey decide they're going to actually swim the entire course from start to finish.

"The entire race?" Chloe's mother asks, tilting her head slightly and looking at her husband, who raises an eyebrow and shrugs as if to say 'hey, it wasn't my idea.'

Chloe nods enthusiastically, "Aubrey and I want to watch from the very beginning, and make the circuit with one of the boats. I think we might even be able to pick out a winner! I mean we've watched so many of these."

"Chloe…you know these races are very long, right?" Chloe's mother asks, wanting to make absolutely certain she's aware of how long these can be, "I mean their boats, no matter how fast they are, aren't as fast as us."

Chloe grins and rolls her eyes good-naturedly, "I know mom, but that's all part of the adventure!" Chloe scrunches her nose and teases lightly, "You did this yourself when you were 17. At least I've waited a little longer, I'm 23 you see, before I told you I want to go swimming across the oceans."

Her father laughs and her mother throws her head back and chuckles.

Chloe's enthusiasm shows through and really there was never a question as to whether she'd be doing this.

Her mother and father share a smile, and her mother turns to her and says, "Well I guess your father and I will see you when you pass by this way during the race."

Chloe's grin could not be matched.

* * *

"You know you're going down Conrad, so I don't even get why you're still entering the race."

"I may be going down in your dreams maybe, but this race is mine."

Beca laughs heartily as her longtime friend and fellow competitor says this.

"Well damn Stacie. That went from zero to a hundred quick."

Stacie grins at her and shrugs, "I saw an opportunity and I took it."

At 24, Beca is officially the youngest ever competitor to enter the Vendee Globe. Stacie, who will be turning 25 during the race, is a close second. A fact that Beca constantly brings up.

Stacie and Beca met at age 6 because of their fathers who are both avid sailors themselves, and it seemed like destiny for them to meet again ten years later when assigned to the same crew, after having convinced their fathers to sign up to enter into the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, the first real competitive sailing experience for either gentlemen as well as their daughters. The involvement in that race alone was enough to facilitate a long-lasting bond between them.

That first race, made it clear to both girls that racing was something they really had a passion for. They almost won that race, and it was then that the want to actually win began to grow within them.

Together they must have sailed at least five thousand miles, and even completed a number of single-handed trans-oceanic races to qualify for the Vendee Globe separately.

Being so young, neither of the two was taken too seriously until it was obvious that they were running serious campaigns and each had very serious plans of winning this race.

"I can't believe we're finally going to do this!" Stacie exclaims suddenly, grabbing onto Beca's upper arm and squeezing excitedly, "It's like this day couldn't get here fast enough, and now that it's here I can't seem to wrap my head around it."

Beca grins up at her and nods in total agreement, "Absolutely, I get that. It's going to be-"

"Well lookie here, what did that guy on Eurosport say? If only this was a modeling competition for best looking sailors, Beca Mitchell and Stacie Conrad would surely win by a landslide." The man stops in front of them and makes a show of looking them up and down, supposedly appreciatively, "I have to admit he's not wrong. But too bad this isn't a modeling competition, which means you're going to lose _big_ time."

Bumper Allen. A 35-year-old man, and one time Globe veteran. Also, an all-time ass.

Beca and Stacie share disgusted looks and walk around him to continue making their way down to the dock.

They hear him try to get their attention but they've heard variations of the same for a long time now, and neither one of them is about to let a man like Bumper ruin their day.

It's early in the morning so there isn't really much press or any crowds to see any of the racers off, but that will soon change once they start to arrive a little later.

The calm morning, one buzzing with quiet undercurrents of excited energy from the sailors, is going to change into a roaring day in less than a couple of hours.

"I hope he ends up forgetting everything he's ever learned about sailing and yachts in general." Beca grumbles.

Stacie laughs lightly, "Oh come on now Beca, we don't need that kind of negativity. Positive vibes Mitchell. We don't need _you_ forgetting everything."

Beca rolls her eyes but manages a little grin, "Yeah yeah alright Conrad, you can stop with the Yogi talk. So…what say you we meet up in thirty? Then we can head off and pick a spot for the fam so they won't get pushed around by knuckleheads."

Stacie chuckles as she hops into her yacht, "Sounds good. See you in thirty."

Beca walks a little further down the dock until she's in front of her own yacht.

 _Trebled Waters_

She takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly before smiling to herself and climbing on board and doing her last-minute check of the boat and the contents on said boat, not wanting to forget anything crucial.

* * *

"Beca! Beca over here! Stace! Stacie!"

Beca and Stacie can't help but laugh at Mrs. Conrad's enthusiastic waving, her homemade 'kick some ass!' sign made in support of the both of them waving wilding in front of her.

"Dude, your mom? Is the fucking best." Beca says as they get to her, wrapping their arms around her.

"Your fathers are down further; they know some of the other contestants and are saying their hellos. I thought I'd stay up here to wait for the two of you. How excited are the both of you?"

Stacie laughs lightly, "Really excited. Beca and I barely got any sleep."

Beca rolls her eyes, "I don't know what she's talking about, I slept like a baby last night. Best sleep I've had in months!"

Which was true, once she managed to actually fall asleep.

"Will we be able to have breakfast this morning before you have to be off?" Mrs. Conrad asks, looking from Stacie to Beca and back again.

Stacie looks to Beca and lifts a shoulder, "I don't know mom. I mean maybe coffee, but an actual breakfast…"

Beca grins slightly, "If we can manage to tear our dads away from the old skippers long enough we could. We have time."

Suffice it to say, Mrs. Conrad did manage to get the men away to share breakfast together.

The two families say their goodbyes at the docks, Beca hugging her father tightly, Stacie engulfed in her parents' arms, before switching and saying goodbye to each other's families.

"We're going to be watching and cheering for you, the both of you." Mr. Mitchell says, his eyes a little misty as he does so.

Beca smiles up at him and the five of them stand together for a couple of beats just taking each other in before Beca clears her throat and nods her head in the direction of their boats, "We've…we're gonna go kick some ass now."

Mrs. Conrad laughs lightly, "Yes you are! You two are going to show these scoundrels a thing or two about sailing!"

Beca and Stacie watch as their parents walk back up the docks to the view area, before turning and walking back the way they had come before. And once again they stop at Stacie's yacht first.

"So…you take care out there Mitchell."

Beca grins up at her and nods, "Likewise Conrad."

Stacie surprises Beca by lifting her up into a tight hug, "We're so winning this."

Beca laughs as she's set back down, "We _so_ are."

Stacie quickly knocks on wood, and it's to that sound that Beca is walking towards her ship to, with head held high and a determined grin on her face.

* * *

"Have they started?!" Chloe asks, swimming even faster now for fear of having missed it.

Aubrey, who's close behind her, gently nudges her and laughs lightly, "No they haven't started yet, none of their boats are even at the starting position, look."

Chloe laughs at herself, "See, I knew that, but I'm so excited I just can't stop myself from thinking we're sure to miss something."

They swim all the way to the docks and see all of these beautiful racing yachts all aligned and Chloe is over the moon with anticipation, "Do you think the humans have arrived yet?"

Aubrey tilts her head as they both looks up towards the sun, shimmering as it does but still not up fully, "I think it's probably too early, but we might see a few though."

Chloe perks up, "And those would be the ones we choose our winner from."

Aubrey chuckles and raises an eyebrow, her tail swishing slightly, "And why would it be any of them that's a likely winner?"

Chloe twirls to lay on her back, looking up at the bottom of the yachts, "Because only the most serious sailors would be out so early to see their vessel."

"That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to win." Aubrey argues gently, watching as Chloe slowly summersaults in perfect circles, only to pause once her sentence is finished.

Chloe giggles lightly, "Perhaps not all of the ones we see, but surely one of them will be the winner."

Aubrey laughs, "Let's just hold off on deciding until we get a look at them out on the water."

It's then that they hear the sound of footsteps coming from above them on the dock, and both Chloe and Aubrey lock gazes with each other, their eyes widening excitedly as they whisper in unison, "humans!"

They're swimming up under the dock, right under the humans, faster than a flying fish, and simultaneously their heads pop out from under the water, taking advantage of the cover the wooden dock allows them.

" _-and now that it's here I can't seem to wrap my head around it."_

Chloe and Aubrey are mesmerized as they peer through a gap in the boards at the humans talking above them.

Chloe's eyes are wide with wonder as she watches a rather short human talking to a taller one. She murmurs, not taking her eyes off of the two women, "They're not like any sailors that have _ever_ come across our oceans."

Aubrey nods, her own eyes wide, "They're certainly not."

" _Absolutely, I get that. It's going to be-"_

Chloe's eyes finally see the shorter woman's face and hears her voice and Chloe's face breaks into a smile. A smile that is short lived upon the entrance of one Bumper Allen, who steps right in front of their line of vision.

Aubrey and Chloe grumble, sharing looks of disgust.

Aubrey rolls her eyes and murmurs, "I can't believe this fool is back again."

Chloe swims around the immediate area quickly, trying to look for another decent gap in the boards before coming back, and murmuring, "that's because he's a man who thinks he's the best. There's no fool greater than an arrogant fool."

Chloe and Aubrey perk up as they hear the women start walking away, and they exchange excited glances before swimming down the dock with them, hoping for another chance to see them, rather than simply see their shadows passing over them through the thinnest of gaps.

As Chloe goes to follow the smaller one, the one referred to as both Beca and Mitchell, she quickly notices Aubrey moving out from under the dock and under the yacht of the one named Conrad.

"You go ahead, I want to see more of this one." Aubrey says with a grin, her tail brilliantly catching the light as she floats even closer to the boat.

Chloe grins and shakes her head slightly before quickly finding her human.

She sees her climb aboard and then she decides she's going to be daring. She'll be careful of course, but she is going to get a closer look of this human.

Chloe slowly swims up from under the water, just off the starboard side of the yacht and carefully peaks up over the edge, only to quickly duck down as Beca starts to walk over to check some of the rigging.

Chloe hears Beca walk farther away from her humming to herself and Chloe once again peaks over the starboard side, watching silently as Beca moves around with a grace she couldn't imagine she ever would have achieved even if she was the one born with two legs. Chloe's eyes never stray, her excitement doubling as she realizes that she's really actually seeing a lady human that's going to race singlehanded around the earth.

The moment that truly seals the deal for Chloe? It's the moment that Chloe hears Beca start to lowly sing to herself as she works. And Chloe's face breaks out in a large smile, her mind made up now even more assuredly.

This is her human.


	2. Chapter 2

As Beca and Stacie go off to see their families, Chloe and Aubrey once again meet in the middle, bubbly and so excited about being here that they swim into each other.

"She's the one!" They exclaim at the same time.

And again, "wait- what?"

Chloe laughs and Aubrey grins as they both take a moment to collect themselves.

"So-you think Conrad is worth spending the race with?"

Aubrey blushes as she grins slightly, "Stacie, her name is Stacie, and she seems to really know what's going on."

Chloe laughs lightly, "It's a rather big race, I should hope she does. But on that note, so does Beca. I think they may actually have a good chance at winning. They're friends, we may still get to swim this course together. As long as our sailors don't lag behind the others."

Aubrey nods, "Do you still want to look at the other boats? There are some smaller ones we've passed."

Chloe tilts her head, her nose scrunching as she says, "I think we've made our decisions."

A large grin appears on Aubrey's face and is reflected back on Chloe's.

"You're right. This is exciting! I heard Stacie talking to someone and she said Beca was very serious about finishing this race in under 100 days."

Chloe grips Aubrey's arms and squeezes excitedly, "No one's ever done that!"

"Stacie seems to think Beca has a real chance here."

Chloe laughs, "I knew it! Wait. Why aren't you swimming along with me then?"

Aubrey clears her throat, "Well, I mean…it's not like Stacie isn't going to be right there with her."

Chloe studies her for a second before she simply smiles and states, "You like her."

Aubrey blinks, her blush intensifying, her eyes wide.

Chloe grins, "You do, you're completely fascinated."

Aubrey shrugs, "I mean, we have two human women who are going to sail around the world. I think it's just really cool to see how both of them do."

Chloe nods, "Mhm, yes definitely. And you _like_ her."

Aubrey flicks her tail in front of Chloe's face and rolls her eyes, "Whatever Chloe."

Chloe giggles, and then casually says, "Beca sings. She has a lovely voice."

Aubrey grins, "You say that like you've never heard someone with a lovely singing voice before."

Laughing, Chloe shakes her head, "This is different. She's human. It's just...it's different. She sounds wonderful."

Aubrey hums knowingly, "Uhhuh. Let's see if she sings again…I'll listen and be the judge of that for myself."

"Whatever Aubrey," Chloe laughs lightly, suddenly really excited to have Aubrey hear Beca sing.

"Do you really think it'll be over in less than 100 days?" Aubrey asks as they relax out by the starting buoys. They're both just about a foot below the surface, laying on their backs, lazily swaying their tails.

"Well, I mean Stacie would know better. If she thinks there's a strong chance, then yes."

Aubrey quirks her lips in a smile as she responds, "that'll be exciting." She pauses before continuing softly, "the weather-"

Chloe shakes her head and cuts in, "Let's not jinx it."

Aubrey glances her way, "If there _is_ bad weather. We need to make sure _we_ are safe. Your parents trust me with taking care of you."

Chloe scrunches her nose, "Why are we talking about bad weather now? When there isn't even a single hint of anything like that right now."

She points upwards towards a clear blue expanse, trying to prove her point. Aubrey gently tugs on her hair, "Because it's important. You know we have no control over the human's actions, and bad weather can strike in a moment out in the open ocean…and I need to know you wont do anything stupid."

Chloe frowns and furrows her brow slightly, "Like what?"

"Risk your life? Stay out in the storm to watch how the human handles things?"

Chloe laughs lightly, "Do you know something I don't know?"

Aubrey smiles softly, "I know _you_. You've done it before." She gently taps on the scar on Chloe's forehead as she says this.

Chloe shakes her head and gently grips Aubrey's wrist, "That was different."

"How was that different?"

Chloe takes a moment and then smiles at her, "I'm not going to put myself in danger. And, you'll be there to stop me if I seem about to do something stupid."

"Always the voice of reason huh?" Aubrey rolls her eyes playfully before turning serious again, "It can't happen like that again. You can't just try and swim through debris and stay above water. You cant get hurt again."

Chloe nods, "I wont. I have no intentions of having a repeat performance. I didn't enjoy that, despite what everyone seems to think."

Aubrey and Chloe stoically stare at each other for a moment before they both crack a smile.

* * *

Beca couldn't hear her own thoughts over the sound of the other excited sailors, waiting for their own start time, and their families and the reporters and news crews and the cheers, but she _knew_ she was thinking one thing for certain as she set foot into the rigid inflatable boat that would be taking her to her sailboat.

'Oh fuck.'

Stacie catches her eye as she climbs into her own little rigid inflatable boat, tossing her a little wink and a grin, knowing better than anyone the thoughts Beca is having.

Beca tightens her grip on the back of the seat as the driver revs the motor and starts moving towards her racing yacht out by the starting buoy, her breathing slow and steady, her eyes focused on her vessel.

As the boat comes to a stop beside her boat, Beca slides her hand against it before pulling herself onboard, quickly and assuredly, her heart beating wildly behind her chest, excitedly. Her body is ready and is making sure she knows it.

She doesn't know if the boat driver said anything to her or if he simply drove off, nor does she really care because she's on her boat. She's about to set sail in the biggest race of her life, and she's going to set the record for the fastest race around the world. _By a woman_.

Beca takes in a deep breath as she ties up her hair in a high pony, and places her lucky cap on her head. She smirks as she eyes Stacie making it onto her own boat some ways away. She slides a finger across the brim of her cap before she sets off preparing her rigging for the starting pistol. She gathers her lines and takes in a deep breath and keeps her eyes on the starting buoy, waiting for the starting flag to drop, and keeping an ear out for the starting sound, rolling her shoulders and preparing herself mentally.

The peace that surrounds her as she's breathing deeply is broken only by the sound of the starting pistol, which goes off at the same time as the flag is dropped, making it clear that it is now time to kick some serious ass.

'And we're off.'

* * *

 _Week 2_

Beca and Stacie have kept up with each other fairly well, making sure not to let the other get too far ahead or behind, pushing each other to go faster.

" _You doing okay skipper?"_ Stacie's voice crackles through the radio, making Beca laugh as she reels in the topping lift, " _You're being sloppy with your headsail_."

Beca scowls and radios back haughtily, "I'll show you sloppy. I'm not the one trailing behind. It's only week two Conrad, get it together."

" _Yo Ho, Yo Ho,"_ comes Stacie's voice full of laughter.

Beca throws her head back and laughs, "Who are you calling a ho?"

" _If the shoe_ -" Stacie pauses for a moment, causing Beca to check to see if the connection was still up, " _have you looked at the forecast maps Beca?"_

Making sure her ropes are all in order for the moment, Beca slides into her little cabin.

The "cabin" is really just the empty belly of her yacht, none of the luxury add-ons remaining, leaving the area bare. The allowed instruments are the only ones in place on the dashboard. Her supplies all tucked away tightly behind mesh against the ship's hull to keep them from rolling around the entire length of the boat. Her bean bag is strapped tight against the bottom of the instruments panel, making it easy for her to pull it out when she's ready for a nap.

Beca quickly scans the maps once she's slid herself across to the panel display. She frowns slightly as she takes in an ominous looking formation, but tilts her head and radios back with a slight furrow of her brow, "It's _way_ off, we'll be past it by the end of the day." She grins before continuing, "Stop using this wee storm cloud as an excuse to be half assing things, get yourself in gear."

* * *

Chloe swims back towards Aubrey, looping around her easily, "They're making wonderful time, they're doing so well! I didn't think we'd get to this point until at least three days from now."

Aubrey laughs lightly, "They are- though I have a feeling the true test of skill is only just arriving. There's some weather in the works, I can feel it approaching."

Chloe nods, "We're ahead of it now. The winds aren't directing it our way any longer either. Besides it's only a small rain cloud."

Aubrey shakes her head and lazily swims on her back, "You're confident that won't change?"

"I don't know what the future holds, but as of right now? Yes."

Aubrey grins at her, "Good answer." Slowly rolling over she continues, "Your human, Beca? She does sing well, but so does Stacie."

Chloe raises an eyebrow, "Does she? I've to hear her for myself then. It seems only fair not to simply take your word for it."

Aubrey rolls her eyes and playfully pushes her, "Honestly? It's a wonder I haven't joined in. it's been so long since I sang anything."

Chloe nods as she swirls around, keeping an eye on Beca's boat, "I was thinking maybe…if we did it quietly, while they napped…it would-"

Aubrey however shakes her head, "What makes you think that they'd even sleep at the same time? Furthermore, the others would hear. Also! That's a terrible idea."

Chloe rolls her eyes, "Just a little lullaby- and quietly, to ease the uncomfortableness-" she trails off and sheepishly grins at Aubrey, who is raising an eyebrow at her, "I may have peaked in…Beca curls up on this poufy ball, like a soft boulder, like a baby seal. And she scowls at every big wave that makes her rock and hit her head against the side of the cabin…" She trails off again and clears her throat, "What?"

Aubrey rolls her eyes, "You. Are. Trouble."

Chloe scoffs but grins as she glances back at her boat, "Oh look, Beca's gaining speed. Catch you later!"

She swims off before Aubrey has a chance to respond.

* * *

 _Week 6_

Despite the fact that the worst of this new storm formation was moving away from them, the rain and the dreary weather that surrounds the sailors just seems to be part of the deal when sailing the open ocean.

They barely get three consecutive days of nice clear weather before the clouds come in and they start getting sprayed with rain and salt water all over again.

Beca is okay with a lot of things that come with sailing. In fact she adores a lot of things that come with sailing. Which is good considering it's what she loves to do. She's okay with the ocean spray and the rain that falls constantly. At least she thought she was. She thought she was over being uncomfortable with being constantly wet and cold.

Beca grumbles lowly to herself. She loves sailing. She does. And every time she's on land she can't wait to get back out on to the ocean, to feel the spray on her skin, to breathe the ocean air. And yet every time she's out here, with the cold rain, for months on end, she can't help but wish she was warm and _dry_.

The fact that she had a rain slicker on made no difference at all when the water and rain just kept coming. It made no difference to the point where Beca no longer would slip in and out of her rain jacket when she went into the cabin to take a quick power nap.

Beca rolls her eyes at herself as she huffs and folds her arms and twists slightly on her bean bag trying to find a slightly more comfortable position; one that would maybe trick her mind into thinking she isn't as wet or cold as she actually is.

She's about to finally rest her eyes when something hard knocks against the hull of her boat, jarring her completely awake, but before Beca can wonder much about the noise that she's now uncertain she even heard, her attention is completely on her weather gear.

"Son of a bitch," she murmurs under her breath when she sees a rather angry looking, fairly large, red circle making it's way across the screen. She clambers towards the weather radar before she checks the enhanced infrared satellite imagery.

It doesn't look good.

No, it doesn't look good at all.

Beca's heart is in her throat, beating wildly as she checks her own coordinates and tries to calculate just how likely it is for her to-she pauses and checks her Inmarsat C terminal, wondering if the race officials are aware of this weather formation. If they haven't issued a change of course direction…Beca takes a breath.

Pulling out the satellite phone she calls for Stacie.

"Stace?" She asks when she hears the line pick up, "Are you actually awake enough to comprehend information?"

The response is immediate, " _I'm here. I'm up. I was about to radio you in and-"_

Beca bites her lip, her eyes scanning her equipment none stop, and cuts Stacie off before she finishes a complete sentence, "I'm going on."

Silence greets her for a few beats and Beca thinks perhaps she didn't hear her over the howl of the increasing wind; a sound she's becoming more and more aware of.

" _No. You aren't_."

Beca clips the phone to her belt securely and plugs in the waterproof earphones. She nods vigorously as she heads up on deck and unfurls her sails further, tightening her rigging and securing her main lines.

"Yes I am. I can skirt around it. Our course cuts through its path. With the way it's moving, if I just keep going, I'll be ahead of it. But I need to move now. The wind direction and speed is constant so far, if it stays on course like-"

" _Stop._ Or _you can calm down and slow down slightly and let it pass ahead of-"_

Beca is already shaking her head, "Nope. I'm doing this. I can do this, I think…The wind has been consistent. I've looked at the logs. It hasn't gone any faster or switched direction too drastically."

" _Until shit changes and suddenly you find yourself sailing in a 9 on the Beaufort Scale!_ "

Beca cringes at the tone, "It hasn't gotten there yet. It's barely even a 7."

Stacie growls down the line, and Beca swallows as she settles herself against the pushpit, throwing her arm around the tiller, making sure she has her eyes on her lines. She takes a deep breath and calmly states, "I _know_. I know it looks like it's gaining. I get it. But I'm doing this, I know I can get through it, the wind hasn't whipped up any faster than 30 knots…that's roughly 36 miles per hour for you there, hot shot." She grins as she teases Stacie, trying to calm her own nerves as well as get Stacie to unclench.

" _Why are you so stubborn?_ "

Beca laughs into the wind, her heart hammering hard against her chest, her hair wet and sticking to her forehead, drowned out only by the waves crashing against the ocean itself.

"Must be something I picked up from you."

* * *

"Why is it that it's always your human that likes to act like an idiot?"

Chloe shakes her head and rolls her eyes, "She believes she can outrun the storm. The winds…she believes they'll stay their course for her."

Aubrey bites down, clenching her jaw, "You plan on following her."

It wasn't a question, Chloe was well aware of that.

"This is a race. She's my pick."

Aubrey furrows her brow, "That is the stupidest thing- She's going to hit this storm dead on. You know that. You can't follow her, it's not safe."

Chloe watches as Beca's boat starts to pull farther away faster, "It isn't safe for her either."

Aubrey shakes her head impassioned, "Do you think I care? _You_ are my priority. If the human has a death wish, and refuses to listen to reason or think things through properly, then so be it. But you don't have-"

Chloe frowns and points a finger out towards Beca's boat, "She's confident she can do this! She's got a chance and you know it. _If_ she stops hesitating. She needs to commit right now or else she will not make it. So, maybe you should hope that Stacie stops trying to talk her out of it. We both know she's going to go regardless. And so am I."

* * *

Beca takes a deep breath as she presses down on her kicking strap, a rush of air escaping her as she feels the wind hit her sails more centered, surging her boat forward with more force than she expected. She grins wildly, adrenaline coursing through her. She can't believe she did it.

"Okay. Yes. You've got this. What's a little rain and some waves anyways. And wind. Wind is our friend. We go faster with lots of strong wind. Especially when you've used the wind to beat the storm."

She stops talking suddenly, moments later, when she notes the more vicious tugging on her lines. Beca shakes her head and readjusts herself. The waves are crashing down against the sides of her boat repeatedly now and she barely has a moment to take in a breath before another hit all but drowns her.

Beca cranes her neck as she leans back and slightly over to get a look at the forestay. Things should have at least slightly calmed down now that she's gotten out of the way of the worst of the storm.

Her boat is rocking nonstop and is unstable to say the very least, every roll of the waves brings her nearly at a 90-degree vertical angle and she has to brace herself for the hit. Which, Beca thinks to herself, is not calming down. If anything, things seem to actually be getting worse. Much worse.

At every opportunity, she tries to make sure the lines she needs remaining taught are as tight as they need to be. Through the rain and waves, Beca notices the backstay seems to be slackening and she gulps down a moment of panic when she turns and watches the jib sail lose its shape, the jib halyard having been finally knocked off from the onslaught of wave punches. The halyard block at the end of the line comes swinging around from the force of the wind and waves and knocks against the main mast.

At that same moment, she looks beyond the bow of her ship.

'This…was a mistake,' is the one thought in her mind as she watches a massive wall seeming to grow out of the ocean and move towards her.

There's nothing for her to do, nothing she can possibly attempt to try and no maneuver she can attempt to try and get herself around this. Beca braces herself for the inevitable crash.

She shuts her eyes and focuses on her breathing alone, silencing every other sound. She tightens her arm around her lines, presses against the pushpit, and holds onto the tiller with all her might as the sounds fade away, leaving only her ragged breathing and her heart thudding against her chest.

Beca thinks perhaps she should have chosen this time as the one time she actually decided to listen to Stacie's advice.

The storm she thought she beat…the storm she thought she could outrun decided to switch gears.

It didn't stay on its course.

It was as if it was waiting for someone to attempt beating it. To square up against it and challenge it. The storm sped up. It had changed directions. It had gotten ahead of her.

Mother Nature is not kind to those who believe they are better than. Or smarter than. Or more capable.

The crash comes and Beca can't breathe.

Not for lack of trying. But it's as if 200 tons was being pressed on her chest, crushing her, forcing her to breathe out and refusing to allow her the chance to breathe in.

Her eyes snap open on impact, and they widen as she sees the main mast break like a twig, her sails being whipped up by the winds and being blown away from her. She's suddenly bucked overboard, and she finds herself floating backwards as if in slow motion.

She hits what feels like a slab of solid ice with a deafening smack, which is drowned out by the rush of air and waves and rain, and what little air she had managed to hold onto in her lungs is forced out completely.

Beca feels her body being pulled and shoved under water, wave after wave hitting her from all sides, currents dragging her under and rolling her body over and over, disorienting her. Any attempt to find the surface is squashed by the onslaught of unforgiving waves and the pouring rain, making it impossible to distinguish up from down.

Her lungs are burning, and her eyes sting, and her entire body feels as if it's on fire. Beca tries, helplessly, to stay above water, to gasp in breath at every opportunity she can, though soon even that is futile as she's forced down deeper and her lungs are alight and feel as if they've been filled with acid the longer she's pushed under.

Every time she thinks she's reached her limit, every moment she believes she's had enough, she finds that she pushes for a little bit longer. Arms moving, legs kicking, trying with every roll of the waves to right herself up and find the surface, but getting nowhere. Eyes wide, mouth fighting to open to gasp in air as she fights with herself to keep it shut against the water, knowing if she opens her mouth she'll be gulping down water and not the much needed air she so desperately hopes for.

Beca pushes with all her strength, what little of it remains, one last time, reaching out her hands for the surface, hoping to be able to grasp and hold onto something, kicking her feet relentlessly though she feels herself tiring quickly. She gets nowhere near the surface and she feels herself tense, though a moment later she tries to force herself to relax, to give into it. There's nothing she can do. She's being smacked around and hit and now she's been pushed so far down under water she can't tell if she's been swimming towards the tumultuous surface or deeper still into the abyss.

All she knows is that she's tired and she can't keep her mouth shut any longer. She can't stop her lungs from wanting to release the pressure. Her vision, already basically useless in the near dark, is spotty, but she thinks she sees a woman swim past her, but she blinks and the vision is gone, and all she is left with is feeling as though she's a rag doll, tossed aside and finally she just stops fighting.

Her lungs expand and she takes in great big gulps of water, even though she had hoped, stupidly, that she'd be breathing in air. The water rushes in, filling her up, finding a way, any path, all the paths, to end her suffering.


	3. Chapter 3

Stacie slides into her cabin after she lost direct sight of Beca, watching her little dot on the radar move steadily farther and farther away.

"You stupid, _stupid_ girl," Stacie murmurs, pissed that she couldn't make Beca see reason, or see how dangerous her plan is.

She bangs her fist against the side of the hull waiting for the responding knock. When it never happens she sighs and groans as she pulls her hair up into a messy ponytail.

"Where are you?"

Stacie clambers up to the top and pulls up the sail, turning it inward to slow down her boat, keeping an eye on the angry clouds that keep getting closer and closer.

She hears a knock against her boat and she feels herself get calmer.

Stacie leans against the pushpit and takes a deep breath, sending out a seafarer's prayer for Beca, hoping that she'll make it. Praying that nothing bad happens to her best friend.

When the weather starts getting rougher Stacie is still on deck, and she shakes her head a she slips into the cabin to check the weather maps and satellite images.

She clenches her jaw at the information before her, "Beca, you stupid…"

The weather formation, the storm, changed path almost immediately after Beca set course.

She hits the side of her boat and right away there's a response and as much as she hoped it would make her feel a little better, it didn't help much this time.

Stacie and the other sailors who were close enough to be effected have all slowed down, in lieu of the storm, and though she's ahead of them all, they're not gaining or losing any ground. Everyone deciding to let the storm pass and choosing to stay put and hoping the storm doesn't decide to whip around and come after them.

No other sailors are by her, and she wonders if any of them will make it over to her or if they'll all be keeping their distance.

Stacie leans her back against the body of her boat and sighs as she knocks her head against it, listening for a reply.

"I know you're here. I've seen you. I've heard you. Do we have to go on pretending that that didn't happen?"

Stacie waits, the sound of the rain hitting her boat clear in her ears, and the waves rocking it.

"Just-I'd like to not be so worried right now and I think talking to you would help," Stacie sighs and continues, "I'm not crazy. I know what I saw and what I heard."

She waits a few beats, "Fine. Just bang against the boat then like before. That's just fine."

She grumbles in frustration, "I'm not crazy."

Her eyes glance at the satellite images again and she rubs her eyes, "Beca's making good time. She needs to go faster though. This storm is not happy."

Stacie hears a little double knock against the boat and she feels herself smile slightly and jokingly says, "Knock once for yes and twice for no," she pauses and then tentatively asks, "Do you think Beca's going to make it?"

"I'm not a fortune teller."

The sound comes from behind, near the opening of the cabin, and Stacie nearly knocks her head against the top of the cabin.

* * *

Beca comes to slowly, with gentle waves washing against her cheek while she lays on what feels like a shore.

Her eyes feel heavy and there's sand everywhere. She feels it as she tries to move any part of her body.

Beca's lungs are still burning and before she can try to take a breath she feels a knock against her back forcing her to cough up the sea water, her throat and lungs suddenly feeling engulfed in flames.

She gasps and this time when she gulps she's breathing in air, sweet pure air and her lungs expand fully, bursting almost. She pants and coughs as she draws in breath over and over again.

"You're okay now. You're okay."

Beca doesn't want to believe that she's imagining this other person that's speaking to her. She wants to believe with every fiber of her being that she's not alone and that someone is really there with her. When she opens her eyes and looks over towards the voice she feels that it's probably most likely her imagination or she's dead because, "Tail."

Beca manages to cough out that word, her voice hoarse and her eyes burning. She flops onto her back and continues gulping in air, blinking back tears from the severity of the coughs.

Beca's eyes keep roaming over her body, taking in the magnificent tail that's very attached to the body.

"Oh," Chloe looks down at her tail and smiles slightly, "Yes that's right."

Beca doesn't exactly calm down, but she manages to start breathing regularly, enough to try and sit up. Slowly.

She furrows her brow and shakes her head slightly as she takes in the tail, the red hair, the ridiculously blue eyes.

"I must be dead."

Chloe's eyes widen and she quickly goes to assure her, "No- no, you're okay. I'm sure of it. Though, your boat…didn't exactly make it."

Beca stares at this woman- this woman with a tail, as she continues speaking to her about her boat and Beca cant get her mind to fully process any of the information. Beca clears her throat and interjects.

"I'm sorry. Who-what are you? That's probably rude…isn't it? But this isn't real so… who are you?"

The being before her giggles lowly and Beca blinks repeatedly trying to stop her reaction to the enchanting sound.

Siren. She's a siren.

"No, it's not rude. My name is Chloe. I'm a mermaid. A mer-person. Remember the tail?"

Beca nods slowly, though she can't deciding to do so," Yeah, I remember it. It's beautiful."

Chloe beams at her and Beca finds that her breath is lost to her again before she shakes out of the slight daze and says, "You saved me."

Chloe nods and she scoots up a little bit closer to Beca on the shore, the soft waves lapping against them.

"I couldn't just let you drown."

Leaning back onto her elbows, taking slow deep breaths, Beca feels just how absolutely beat up and bruised she is, solidifying the face that she's alive.

"Thank you. I really thought I wasn't going to make it."

Chloe quirks her lips slightly, "You're very welcome. You're taking this surprisingly well."

Beca drops down onto her back again, not even bothered with how much more sand is being washed into her hair. She throws an arm across her eyes and laughs breathlessly, "I don't know that I am."

Chloe tilts her head as she asks, "No?"

Beca lightly coughs out a few chuckles, "No. it's a little hard to believe that a) I'm alive and b) it's because of a mer-person. I mean shit, you have a tail!"

Beca's heart starts beating faster, her breathing erratic, as she works herself up, "I mean I should have _died_. I would have! I would have died if not for you. And you're make believe! A beautiful mythical creature but still imaginary. I must still be dying, I'm in the in-between, I'm still drowning."

Chloe frowns down at her a little, "I'm not imaginary."

She flicks her tail against Beca's legs a few times, letting Beca wind down.

"Hey alright ow."

Beca removes her arm from across her eyes and she turns her head to look up at Chloe.

"Okay. Alright. So this is…this is real. This is happening. Chloe?"

Chloe nods at her and Beca continues, "Chloe, you're a mermaid. A human lookalike with a tail."

Chloe just silently watches as Beca works her way through this.

"I…what happened?" Beca finally asks quietly, looking up at Chloe slightly disheartened knowing it was a serious question.

"You got thrown overboard," Chloe starts, looking at her sadly, "tossed around. You were- you almost drowned. I got to you as fast as I could." Chloe pauses before continuing, "It was difficult, even for me, to swim through that."

Beca remains quiet for some time, taking it all in.

"Thank you. For saving me." Beca finally says, breaking the silence.

Chloe smiles at her softly, "You're very welcome. I mean, I couldn't very well let my favorite racer drown."

Beca tilts her head but stays silent, watching Chloe as she goes back to skimming her palm along the surface of the water when it washes onto the beach.

"You see- I mean- I've been sailing with you."

Beca blinks at her but continues to stay quiet.

Chloe clears her throat and flips her hair back, finally meeting Beca's eyes, "Swimming, I've been swimming with you. I've been following you. I love the races and this is the first time I've," she stops when Beca starts shaking her head.

"What is it?" She asks softly.

Beca continues shaking her head, "I'm sorry I just I cant believe. Fuck." She scoots even further back up the beach and inhales deeply, "Okay. So you were following me."

Chloe lifts a shoulder, "To see this race through from start to finish. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't start off coming to this race knowing it'd be you. I just wanted to be a part of it. To watch it up close, instead of just seeing the boats sail by where we live."

Beca laughs, "Right sure of course. That makes sense. If I were you I'd do the same thing. Why wouldn't I want to circumnavigate through the oceans in a huge race."

Chloe furrows her brow, "I feel like you're having a difficult time right now accepting what I'm telling you."

Beca just stares unblinkingly, "I am. I mean, thank you for saving me- I do appreciate it. I'm just pretty sure that this is all my imagination still-a partial nightmare."

She stops and looks out across the water in front of her and sees some debris floating along the surface. Her face scrunches up in obvious pain.

"I wrecked my boat."

Chloe turns and glances out at the water as well and nods solemnly.

"But you're alive."

She lets that hang in the air between them before saying, "I also managed to pick some of your things up. The bag is over there."

Beca twists slightly to look over to where she's pointing and sure enough, tossed further up the beach is her backpack.

Chloe slowly reaches out and doesn't quite touch Beca's temple, "We should get you some food and I'll see if there's anything else I can pick up…Now that you're awake I can take a little more time away."

Beca slowly turns her head and Chloe's fingers graze the side of her face, "Okay. Right yeah. Except I can't think of eating anything right-"

Her stomach decides to protest loudly at that moment and Chloe beams and giggles, "You're starving. Obviously."

Beca's face flushes and she grins sheepishly. She takes a deep breath, "I guess I can worry about shit later…after I've eaten."

Chloe's brow furrows again but she nods quickly, "Yes, you can worry about shit? Later."

Beca slowly struggles to her feet, Chloe graciously offering her some stability.

Chloe watches as Beca shuffles the couple of feet up the beach and plops down again, immediately shuffling through the backpack.

"Oh! Okay this is great!" Beca pulls out the satellite phone and then the cans of corn. "How'd you know to grab this during the chaos? Like how'd you even know it was important-"

She stops when she looks up and sees that Chloe is nowhere to be seen. Beca's excited questioning stops and she drops her shoulders, "Oh okay. Just talking to myself here. Awesome."

* * *

"You couldn't have made your entrance a lil less dramatic?" Stacie asks, rubbing her head and grinning at Aubrey.

"Your friend is going to get Chloe hurt." Aubrey says seriously, though a slight blush is apparent on her face.

Stacie's grin drops, "My friend is going to be fine, and so is yours."

"She's an idiot. You yourself have said it…numerous times." Aubrey points out, her eyebrow raised and a triumphant smile is slightly visible.

"Yeah well, you're not allowed to say that about her. I'm the only one that can call her an idiot."

Aubrey rolls her eyes, "That's ridiculous."

"So is your friend if she's following Beca."

Aubrey glares at her, "Don't you blame Chloe for your friend's idiocy."

Stacie smirks, and Aubrey flushes realizing what she'd just walked right into.

"Have you spoken to her?" Aubrey asks, ignoring Stacie's pointed look.

Stacie grins at her slightly, but grows serious as she shakes her head, "I've lost contact with her but-" she stops midsentence as she looks at her monitors, "Shit."

Aubrey notices that various instruments have started to light up and Stacie now looks rather pale.

Stacie clenches her jaw, "her boat is right in the middle of the storm. Your friend. Shit."

She once again stops, this time her legs give out and she slides down onto the floor, hand on her head, eyes wide and disbelieving as she watches Beca's boat disappear having stopped transmitting it's location.

"What? What happened?" Aubrey asks desperately.

Stacie grabs her phone and tries calling Beca, at the same time trying to contact her via radio.

"No. No no. No."

Aubrey fears the worst and all she can think about is Chloe perhaps doing something stupid. Her grip on the side of the boat tightens for a moment.

She doesn't want to leave Stacie, alone and desperate, but her first priority is Chloe and she may be in trouble.

Before her grip loosens, a hand is placed on top of hers and Aubrey is looking into Stacie's eyes, "You need to stay safe."

Stacie's nose is red, and her eyes are wet, her hair is sticking to her forehead. Aubrey nods, "I'll be fine."

Stacie shakes her head, "Will it be safe for you to go through that storm?"

Aubrey bites down on her cheek as she considers it quickly. She nods once, "Yes."

Stacie nods, "If…will you let me know?"

Aubrey looks at her sadly, and nods slowly, "I will. Don't lose hope."

She doesn't wait for a response, not that Stacie could have managed to give her one.

Stacie ducks back into the cabin and tries to hold it together, hoping against all hope that Beca is okay.


	4. Chapter 4

Aubrey swims as hard as she can hoping Chloe isn't being an idiot, because she knows that there's no way Chloe wouldn't do anything for that human she's so taken by.

As she's swimming she's aware of the storm receding, making the waters easier to navigate through.

The moment she sees a flash of red, she calls out the Chloe.

"Aubrey?" Chloe turns towards the voice, dropping the bad she was holding as Aubrey's body slams into her, Aubrey's arms wrapping around her tightly.

"You're an idiot. Are you okay?"

Chloe nods as she pats Aubrey's back, "I'm okay. As you can see."

Aubrey holds her at arm's length and looks her over for herself. She tsks and furrows her brow, "I'm so mad. I'm _so_ mad, you don't understand. But god am I glad you're okay."

Chloe grins at her sweetly, "I love you too."

Aubrey sighs and lets go of Chloe, her eyes darting up to the surface to look for a shadow, "Where's the sailor?"

Chloe shakes her head sadly, "She's okay. Her boat isn't and…I just feel so bad 'brey."

Aubrey's eyes widen slightly, "What happened?"

As she asks, Aubrey looks around again, taking in all the debris surrounding them.

Chloe sighs, "The storm caught her. The boat all but disintegrated into nothing. So, I'm just trying to gather everything that I can for her."

Aubrey nods, "And Beca? Where is she while you're doing this?"

"I left her on a beach," Chloe turns and shows her the direction, "I need to go back to her soon."

Aubrey hums, "Okay. Alright. Let me help you."

Chloe smiles and hugs her tight, "Thank you."

Together they scavenge around in silence, filling up their bags, before they're ready to head back to Beca.

When Aubrey breaks the surface having followed Chloe, she sees that Chloe's already made it up the beach and is beside Beca checking on her.

She can't help shake her head at Chloe's obvious attraction. She throws over the bags and Chloe comes back over and helps drag them closer to where Beca is still resting.

"So what's the plan now hot-shot?" Aubrey asks quietly.

Chloe looks at her with large puppy-dog eyes and doesn't have to say anything before Aubrey rolls her eyes and states, "I'm going to go get help."

Chloe beams at her, "Yes please."

Aubrey shakes her head, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Chloe smiles softly at her, "I'm very thankful that you are. Seriously."

Shaking her head slightly, Aubrey tilts her head towards Beca, "Stacie was worried. She's still worried, so if Beca comes around and there's a way to talk to Stacie, have her do that as soon as she can? I'll be on my way to her and whether I get there first or not, hearing from Beca would be good."

Chloe quirks her lips, "You're going to reveal yourself?"

Aubrey's cheeks flush, and Chloe's grin broadens as she excitedly whispers, "You've already revealed yourself!"

Aubrey waves her arms around as she whispers back, "It was a desperate time! Desperate measures were needed to be taken!"

Chloe just grins at her, "Uhhuh. Of course."

Aubrey scoffs, and rolls her eyes, "Whatever. I'm leaving now. Goodbye."

Chloe grins wider, "Be safe Aubrey. We'll be here."

With that, Aubrey nods and takes off, swimming back towards Stacie's boat, wanting to get to her as fast as she can, to give her the good news.

* * *

"Beca?"

Beca hums, throwing her arm across her eyes, "What?"

Chloe smiles down at her, "You need to sit up please, so you can finish eating."

Beca blinks her eyes open and her heart skips a beat, the sight of Chloe taking her by surprise, "That's gonna take some getting used to."

"What is?" Chloe tilts her head as she asks, watching Beca slowly sit up.

Beca nods her head towards Chloe's tail, "Your merperson-ness. "

Chloe flaps her tail gently, and nods as she watches Beca take another mouthful of corn out of the can, "It's not something I reveal to humans. You're the first one. So I don't know what the normal reaction would be? But this…you seem to be doing really well."

Beca chuckles, "Cool, I'm glad. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that there are other things I'm trying to wrap my head around. My boat being completely disintegrated for one."

Chloe frowns and looks solemnly around, "Yes. I can imagine."

Beca nods, "Yeah."

Chloe clears her throat, "What about your device?"

Beca's eyes light up slightly, "I didn't want to check before you got back…but now that you're here, if it goes to hell at least you can distract me."

Beca catches Chloe's eyes and gives her a little smile, making Chloe return to smile.

"Is…is there anything else I need to look for?" Chloe asks as Beca puts down the can of corn and picks up the phone.

Beca looks at her and quirks her lips, "To make this work? Nah, if it's still functioning then it should just work, if not, then that's just it, there's nothing we can do about it."

Chloe nods, and scoots closer still to get a better look at what Beca's doing.

Beca steals a look at Chloe and grins before nervously looking back at the phone and taking a deep breath. She then nods to herself and lets out her breath and attempts to turn the satellite phone on.

Both Chloe and Beca stare at the phone in absolute tense silence, neither of them breathing, waiting for a sign of life.

And then it happens.

It beeps and the welcome screen comes on.

Beca beams and whoops, throwing her hand up excitedly and turning to Chloe with a giant smile on her face, "It's working! It's okay!"

Chloe claps excitedly, smiling broadly, her breath stolen out of her at the sight of Beca's wide smile.

Beca bites her lip and quickly draws the phone close again, she pulls up her location and is shocked at how far off course she's managed to get.

"What is it?" Chloe asks quietly.

Beca shakes her head and gives her a little smile, "It's nothing. I didn't realize until right now, seeing it on this screen, just how far away from where I'm supposed to be I am."

She catches Chloe's eyes and warmly smiles at her before turning back to the phone and immediately dials Stacie's number. The sound coming through indicates the call going through, and Beca holds her breath waiting and hoping for Stacie to actually receive the call.

" _Beca!_ "

Chloe hears the voice come out of the device and she excitedly and silently cheers, her arms raised in the air, her eyes and smile wide, causing Beca to laugh out loud, hysterical, the whole situation like some bizarre dream.

"Hey-hey Stace."

" _God am I glad to hear from you. Thank God you're okay!"_

Beca nods, "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. I…my boat's not, but I'm okay. I need…"

Stacie cuts her off, " _I already called in your emergency, and I'm on my way to pick you up. Hang tight alright? And give me your coordinates."_

Beca grins as she gives her the numbers, "You're really on top of this."

Stacie laughs, " _You have_ no _idea._ "

They hang up and after a few moments of silence, Chloe asks, "So, what now?"

Beca, needing a moment to gather her thoughts, swallows dryly, reaches for the can of corn and scrunches her face as she drinks the water inside it. She takes a deep breath after she's taken a sip and turns to Chloe, "Now…more waiting. Hanging tight."

"Your friend is coming though, correct?" Chloe asks, her eyes never leaving Beca's as she tries to read her.

Beca smiles softly, "Yeah, Stacie is coming. It's going to be okay."

Chloe's shoulders relax, "Okay good. That's good."

"Thank you. For being so great. Taking care of me." Beca says, slightly robotically, finding it hard to navigate through the sentence.

Luckily, Chloe doesn't find it odd, and she smiles at her beautifully, "Of course. I like you, I had to help."

Beca chuckles, "Oh good. I'm really, _really_ , glad you like me then."

Chloe smiles brilliantly at her, absolutely beaming, her eyes twinkling.


	5. Chapter 5

Beca's feeling of relief upon hearing Stacie's coming with help on the way does not wane in the slightest, even as the sky turns dark.

If anything, the knowledge that she's going to be rescued makes her almost giddy. That is until the conversation takes an unexpected turn.

"How well do you think you would have been doing had you not decided to weather through that storm?" Chloe asks conversationally, as Beca munches on some more canned corn.

Beca swallows hard, not expecting that question in the slightest.

"You mean, had I been more rational and less careless." The statement is laced with bitterness, more at Beca's own recklessness than anything else.

Chloe nods her head and presses on, "You were navigating by yourself, and I've seen many ships with far more sailors onboard to man the lines go down in lesser storms."

Beca rubs her temples, "Well. I think I'd probably still be in first place. Not to sound cocky or anything, but I was doing really well. I've trained for this race for practically my entire life. I would have won this stupid race, if I just…If I just listened and waited a little bit, I'd still have a boat to sail."

Beca slumps, and puts down the can she had been holding, afraid that she might toss it away from herself if she kept it in hand any longer.

Chloe gently touches Beca's calf, prodding her tenderly, "I think, most certainly, that you would have won. It's unfortunate that you don't have your vessel anymore, but there will be others."

Beca snorts, shaking her head, amused by the redhead, "Yeah, I mean sure, but I don't think I'll have the money or the sponsors to back me any time soon. That was a really stupid thing I did out there, and I don't know that anyone will want to take me on again. It takes a _lot_ of money to do what I do."

Chloe furrows her brow slightly and Beca continues, "I don't just find a boat and call it my own. There isn't a boneyard of wrecked boats that I can go to and claim one as mine. Plus, they're all wrecks."

Chloe crinkles her nose, "Well that's unfortunate. Why can't you be given something because you need it?"

Beca chuckles, "Because that's not how the world works honey. If you don't have money, you can't have things. It's as simple as that."

"Even regular things that you need to survive?" Chloe asks, flippantly, as if sure that the answer will be no.

"Yes, even necessities." Beca answers, watching as Chloe's eyes widen.

"Food?" Chloe asks slowly, eyes never leaving Beca's, watching for any signs of playfulness, thinking surely Beca is just teasing her.

"Yes, food, water, even shelter. If you don't have money, chances are really slim that you're going to get any of those things."

Chloe's brows furrow further, "Does no one care if someone needs something? That's not right of your king, allowing there to be those in need."

Beca quirks her lips, "Well, there's another thing we don't have. A king."

Chloe blinks, "No king?"

Beca shakes her head no, and Chloe smiles and nods understandingly, "Ah, a queen then. How wonderful, you're more advanced than I thought."

Beca laughs lightly and shakes her head, "No. No, sadly we don't have a queen either."

Chloe blinks at her silently, assessing her, and then quietly says, "You _are_ being serious."

Beca nods, her lips curled up slightly, "Yep."

"Who makes sure you all are taken care of and treating each other kindly?"

Beca raises an eyebrow and chuckles, "Definitely not the president, I'll tell ya that."

"Well then the president should be taken down, they're not doing their job properly. They must be replaced."

Beca huffs out a laugh, "Yes, that's what we're trying to do. It's not that easy apparently."

Chloe shakes her head, "I'm suddenly really glad I don't live among your kind. I'd be far too frustrated at the way things are done. If someone who is meant to take care of you, does not, then they no longer deserve that job and someone else takes over. It's not seahorse wrangling."

Beca laughs lightly, "I think I would like to see that done."

Chloe's furrow disappears, "See what done?"

"Seahorse wrangling, it sounds interesting."

Chloe giggles, "It's tedious."

A rumble cuts through just then and a burst of light cuts through the sky.

Beca's head shoots up to look and she sees the clear night sky has been blocked by a growing storm cloud.

"That can't be good." Beca mumbles, hitching herself up further, looking around in the dimming moonlight, hoping in vain that perhaps some kind of shelter may have been suddenly sprung up from the beach.

Chloe looks out towards the water and says, "I'll bring back some more wood. We must keep you warm."

"I don't know how much help any wood you find out in the water is gonna be, it'll be wet and wont light. We're still waiting on the bits of wreckage you brought up earlier to dry enough to light."

Chloe hums, "We need to get something over your head. Your clothing isn't going to keep you entirely dry either, without some help."

"Why is this happening?" Beca huffs out the question up at the clouds still coming together.

Chloe crawls up further onto the beach beside Beca and rolls her eyes at her as she reaches out and zips up the jacket and pulls the hood up over her head, "You don't honestly expect an answer, do you?" She tugs on the draw strings and then pats Beca on the head, "Now, stay here, I'll bring back as much as I can, as quickly as I can, and we'll have you tucked under just in time."

Beca says nothing as Chloe dips back down to the water and disappears.

"What am I getting myself into?" Beca asks out loud.

* * *

"So, this is great, more stormy weather!" Stacie yells out, hopefully loud enough for Aubrey to hear her.

"You needn't yell, I can hear you just fine, thank you." Aubrey's voice is dripping with superiority.

Stacie whirls her head around, and is only slightly shocked at the sight of Aubrey, sitting across the floor of her boat, tail fanned out in front of her, playing with the knots on Stacie's medical bag.

"Well, excuse me, I didn't realize you climbed aboard. Usually one asks for permission from the captain before boarding their boat." Stacie says with a grin on her face.

Stacie's face colors slightly, but she shakes her hair out of her face haughtily and ignores her, "The weather shouldn't be a problem, it's not so much on the water as it is on the land, you'll be able to get to your friend easily."

"How do you know that?" Stacie asks, genuinely curious. Aubrey is right of course, but Stacie only knows that because of all of her instruments telling her that she's right. How could Aubrey know this information without that technology at her disposal?

"It's a gift." Aubrey states casually, a smile at her lips.

Stacie grins, "Aw, come on, at least give me more than just that!"

Aubrey bites her lip and shakes her head, "It's something we learn to do. Read the weather. I can tell you, without a doubt, that the rains we're getting now are going to deplete, but only because they're moving closer towards the land, closer towards your friend."

Stacie rolls her eyes at Beca's dumb luck, "So, shit's going to hit the fan for her again."

Aubrey wrinkles her nose, in distaste, "Yes. Shit is going to hit the fan."

Stacie laughs at the look on Aubrey's face, but decides not to comment on it, "Alright, well, I hope she got herself something to hide under til we get to her."

"I'm certain Chloe will have that under control." Aubrey says, knowing that Chloe would not leave her out in the rain.

* * *

Chloe drags another large piece of wood across the beach behind her, huffing slightly, having taken this trip multiple times, and it not getting any easier.

"You're doing so much for me," Beca says in a quiet voice as Chloe gets close enough to hear her.

Chloe's face, which was rather flushed from exertion, breaks into a small smile, "I'm just making sure you're okay; I'm not doing anything you wouldn't do for me."

Chloe takes a deep breath and then rocks the piece of wood onto its side. Beca does her part as she grabs onto it and helps pitch it closer still. Together they finally form a rather scruffy looking lean-to.

"It's not…it's not very much, but…" Chloe says, eyeing the structure.

Beca smiles at her kindly, "It's better than anything I could have put together on my own, in the state I'm in."

Chloe glances at Beca's leg and winces slightly, "Is it getting worse?"

Beca, having not realized she had injured her ankle so badly earlier, shakes her head, "I don't think so, but I'm definitely not about to try and get up to do anything strenuous again any time soon."

Chloe giggles, "Strenuous, like walking?"

Beca blanches but is saved from responding by a crack and a sudden downpour of rain, instantly soaking Chloe.

Beca, who had her hood up still and was under the lean-to, was surprised at how dry she stayed.

Chloe smiles widely, "It's working well!"

Beca grins back at her and nods her head, "Yeah, you look like you're in the shower though so I'm glad I'm not out in that. Even though I could probably definitely use one right bout now."

Chloe tilts her head, blinking the rain out of her eyes, "A shower?"

Beca clears her throat and blushes slightly, "I- yeah, a shower. It's, what we do to get clean. We turn on water so that it sprays from above our heads, and we stand underneath it to wash ourselves."

"Oh! Do you want to shower with me then?" Chloe asks, reaching a hand out, waiting to help Beca out into the rain.

Beca's mouth goes dry, "I- no, what."

Chloe drops her hand, "You said you wanted a shower?"

Beca chuckles, "Well, I do. But not out in ice cold water, with no soap and no towels and I don't know definitely not with all these clothes on either."

"Take them off then," Chloe offers simply, as if it was the easiest solution to the problem, "Keep them under your lean-to so they stay dry."

Beca's face is incredibly red as she stammers, "I, yeah, but, that's…the problem with the cold though, and lack of soap, and dry towels and showers, I don't…they're not for the public to witness."

Chloe tilts her head, and looks around, "There isn't anyone else here."

Before Beca can say anything else however, Chloe continues, "I do have to admit that the water is pretty cold though, and I can see that it may not be for everyone."

Beca laughs lightly, cheeks still flushed, "Yes and being clean means washing up with soap and there isn't any of that out here."

Chloe hums thoughtfully, and then happily says, "You'll have to show me a shower some time then. It sounds like I'd like it."

Beca raises an eyebrow and grins, suddenly feeling emboldened, "What part of all of this do you think you'd like exactly? My lack of dress, the soap, or the warm water?"

Chloe grins and gives her a little wink, "All of it of course."

A part of Beca wonders if Chloe knows exactly what she's doing, and another part of her thinks there's absolutely no way she doesn't, but Beca can't bring herself to say anything else on that matter because she doesn't feel like her wits are completely about her yet.

"Do you want to get out of the rain?" Beca asks a little while later, wondering if she should suggest Chloe take her leave if she must.

Chloe looks up at the sky and then nods her head, "Not that I don't love the water, but I think…yes, yes I would like to get out of the rain."

Beca hadn't really thought this through however, because it was now going to be a rather snug fit under the lean-to.

Chloe slides under right beside her and shuffles even closer. She giggles as she plays with the droplets of water she had just dripped onto Beca's jacket, "I'm sorry I'm dripping water on you, you were being kept so dry."

Beca quirks her lips and shakes her head, "Don't worry about it. I'm still pretty dry, _and_ warm."

Chloe places her hand on Beca's cheek, and Beca had expected it to be icy cold, she had prepared herself when she saw her hand raise and come closer, however, she's pleasantly surprised at the warmth radiating from Chloe.

"Your hand is like a furnace." Beca murmurs, watching as Chloe's eyes trail across Beca's half hidden face under the hood.

Chloe catches Beca's eyes and smiles, raising her other hand and cradling Beca's face now, "Another perk of being a mermaid."

Beca's eyes flutter closed as she hums in agreement, the feeling of warmth being radiated so lovely and welcomed that she's suddenly overcome with a feeling of tiredness.

Chloe's smile softens as Beca lets all her guards down yet again, "Maybe you should rest a little bit. I'll be sure to wake you when your friends come."

Beca hums softly, "No, no that's okay…I'm not sleepy."

Beca says that with her eyes still closed, and Chloe isn't a fool to believe that Beca isn't already practically asleep.

She chuckles lowly, and gently leans back against a small mound of sand behind her, carefully bringing Beca closer to her, making sure they're still completely under the lean-to.

"Okay not sleepy. Would you like to know how I can control how warm I am?" Chloe asks quietly, already sure that Beca was more than halfway asleep.

In Beca's defense, she really didn't have a chance to stay awake. Chloe's soothing voice would have lulled anyone to a comfortable sleep, regardless of street toughness.

* * *

Stacie gets to Beca's location before the emergency responders do, simply because she's the closest to her out at sea.

She manages to anchor her boat securely and wades onto the beach, the rain making the water choppy and hard to keep her balance but she manages.

"There, over to your right, there's a shelter."

Stacie looks back over her shoulder towards Aubrey's voice and she sees her head bobbing up and down above the water, her hand pointing towards the direction she wants her to go.

Stacie looks back towards the beach and course corrects and keeps walking forward, even though she's yet to see what Aubrey is pointing at and talking about.

Once she makes it onto the beach, her flashlight illuminates the lean-to and she laughs as she jogs as best as she can towards it, "Beca?" Her voice is drowned out by the howling wind.

* * *

Chloe gently tugs on Beca's earlobe, "Beca, your friend is here, you're going to be okay. Can you wake up now?"

Beca murmurs, and nuzzles into Chloe's neck.

Chloe bites her lip and tries once again to wake her, "Beca. Stacie is here."

* * *

As Stacie gets closer to the lean-to, she sees remnants of Beca's supplies strewn around it, and her excitement at getting to Beca doubles.

"Beca, come on answer me, I'm here!"

"Stacie?" Beca's voice calls out from under the lean-to, and Stacie drops to her knees and ducks her head under.

"There you are!" Stacie practically bulldozes her over.

Beca blinks in surprise, she wraps her arms around Stacie and hugs her back, "You're here."

"Of course I'm here. Come on." She crawls back out from under the shelter and beckons Beca to follow, "Come on champ, let's get you back onto the boat. We need to get off this island, this lean-to isn't gonna cut it much longer."

Beca looks around her quickly, wondering where Chloe was, and wondering whether she should bother grabbing anything other than her backpack.

"Come on Beca, what're you waiting for?" Stacie asks, shining her light around, helping Beca search for whatever she might be looking for.

Beca shakes her head, obviously coming to the conclusion that Chloe had gone off to safety once Stacie made it over.

"Nothing. Nothing, come on. I need your help. I busted my ankle pretty bad. I can hobble."

Stacie rolls her eyes exaggeratedly as she wraps an arm around Beca, "Of course you did."

Beca grimaces as she tries to put some weight on her ankle, "Alright well, no use crying about it."

"Who's crying about it? I'm definitely not." Stacie quips, grabbing the bag from Beca and slinging it on, before going back to helping Beca walk towards the water.

* * *

Chloe swims over towards Aubrey and they both silently watch as Stacie and Beca hustle as fast as they possible can back out towards the water, the journey wading through the water towards the boat much more difficult than Stacie's lone journey out of it towards the beach.

They can hear the conversation clearly, even over the wind and rain thrashing the humans about.

Beca grits her teeth as they both finally make it towards the boat together, "I'm so sorry."

Stacie ignores her for the moment, as she quickly climbs up the ladder, throwing the bag in through the opening and turning to help Beca up, "If you say that again, I'll seriously hurt you."

Beca chuckles, and lifts her good foot onto the ladder and lifts herself slightly, already out of breath from the exertion.

"Alright, I won't say it again. This whole ordeal hurts like a son of a bitch though."

Stacie grunts in agreement, "Yeah, I can't even imagine." She grabs onto Beca's hands and squeezes, "I'm gonna tug you up, okay? Just push off with your good foot, we're gonna just pull you all the way over."

Chloe and Aubrey swim closer and simultaneously, they both come to the conclusion that they're going to help lift Beca as well.

Stacie nods, mostly to herself in preparation, "Okay, on the count of three. One. Two. _Three_."

Both Aubrey and Chloe push Beca upwards, out of the water, as Beca pushes off with her good foot, and Stacie pulls her up. Together they manage to successfully get Beca onto the boat without further injury.

Beca, for her part, is still trying to catch her breath from the surprise of feeling hands on her, pushing her out of the water. She isn't granted much time to process this however, as Stacie is quickly helping her into the cabin out from the rain.

Stacie goes straight to the dashboard and shakes her head, "We're going to have to weather the storm."

Beca limps towards her and looks over the readings, "We need to take down your lines and rigging. Your sails need to lay low, if that wind picks up and keeps coming this way…"

Stacie quirks her lips, "Look at you, you'd have thought you're a real sailor or something, talking like that."

Beca laughs, "Fuck you."

Stacie grins, "You wish." She pats Beca on the head, "Stay put, get dry, eat something. I'm going to quickly lock things down. I'll be back."

Beca opens her mouth to respond but Stacie gives her a look and is gone before she can say anything at all, leaving her alone to change and put some food into her body.

The wind up top was rougher than it had been a mere five minutes ago, and Stacie did not need Aubrey's abilities to tell her that she needed to get her shit together soon.

That didn't stop Aubrey from saying something though.

"Are you going to be following in your friend's footsteps?" Aubrey asks, and Stacie had to laugh because she sounded so done with humans on the whole.

"No, actually, she too thinks its best we anchor ourselves down as best as we can and ride this out on the boat."

Aubrey looks only slightly less unamused and Stacie can't help but find the look on her face absolutely delightful.

"Will you two be able to handle things under there?" Aubrey asks drily, obviously finding the idea that anywhere else, other than under the sea, is a ridiculous place to be during any kind of stormy weather.

Stacie nods as she fights the wind as she ties down her sails, "We'll be fine as long as I can get everything down and secured. The issue is making sure nothing flies off, otherwise, sailing again is going to be a little difficult."

Stacie looks back over her shoulder and shakes her head once she sees that Aubrey is longer up over the water.

"You cant say bye like humans do? A little warning you're leaving at least?!" Stacie calls out, not in the least bit upset, as can be heard in the smile in her voice.

Chloe trails her fingers along the bottom of the boat as Aubrey swims around towards the other side to check the anchors again.

"I checked them 'brey." Chloe says with a small smile.

Aubrey flushes as she swims over towards her, "I was just double checking."

Chloe quirks her lips and gently taps on the hull, "I'm glad they're doing the smart thing."

Aubrey raises an eyebrow and amusedly states, "Yes, not all humans are as reckless as others."

Chloe rolls her eyes, "Oh you. Stop that."

Aubrey grins winningly, "Stacie put down her sails and she said that that should be enough, everything else is already secured, and all that'll be left for them to do is stay in the cabin, out of all the wind and rain, until the storm passes."

Chloe nods, and then a thought comes to her, "Do you think the help is still coming, or will they be waiting it out as well?"

Aubrey hums, "That's something I'm not sure of. It may be they'll have to also wait, especially if their boats are as small, or if the storm is strong."

Chloe swims out from under the boat and looks up towards the choppy waves, "I think it might be a good idea if they waited if they're unsure they can successfully make it out to them. What's the sense in capsizing yourself."

Together, Chloe and Aubrey both swim up and check on the humans.

They couldn't see much through the darkened windows, just enough to let them know that both Stacie and Beca were sound asleep, despite the howling winds.

"You'd never know one of them was an idiot," Aubrey says almost caringly, a playfulness in her tone.

Chloe laughs as she gently shoves Aubrey, "She's not an idiot."

"Ah, but you knew exactly who I was talking about even though I didn't say her name."

Chloe rolls her eyes, "You're the worst."

Aubrey chuckles as they both slip back under water, "I'm most definitely not."

* * *

It's nearly ten hours later that both Aubrey and Chloe notice the oncoming rescue boat.

Stacie hears the radio call and responds, Beca is glad the officials have finally arrived to properly call the race over for her, glad to have that off her worry list.

"I don't understand why that was worrying you as much as it was," Stacie says as the EMT checks Beca over.

"Unless it's officially called, they presume I tapped out, dipped out of the race, and that's not something I want associated with my name, thanks."

Stacie rolls her eyes, "No one would have-"

Beca gives her a look and Stacie raises her hands in surrender, "Okay, yeah, rules are rules, I got it. You glad it's done now?"

She doesn't have the opportunity to answer.

The EMT interjects, "You're okay save for that nasty ankle there. You're a lil bruised up, but nothing you aren't at least a little bit used to in this profession."

Beca thanks him and he dips out of the room, leaving the two of them alone again.

"What do you think the chances are of me getting someone to back me?"

Stacie remains silent, not really knowing how to answer her.

Yachts aren't cheap.

Getting the money together to buy a decent boat would take some time. They both knew that it would be made easier if Beca had sponsors.

Beca nods, "Yeah. I thought so."

"No, hey, Beca that doesn't mean anything. I could be wrong. We could both be wrong. You could have several waiting to get you for themselves."

Beca chuckles sardonically, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Stacie knows it would be useless to try and talk about it anymore, so she decides to not say anything at all.

"You think we'll get to see our fair maidens again before we get back to dry land?" Stacie asks after a little while, not wanting to steep in the silence any longer.

Beca bundles herself up further with a blanket and shakes her head, "Probably not. We're a lot more people. I don't think they'll risk being seen by all of them."

If she sounds unhappy about it, that would be because she is, and Beca can't help the tone clearly being heard in her voice.

Stacie sighs, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd have liked to at least say goodbye properly."

Beca sniggers, "Oh yeah? And how's that Stace?"

Stacie's ears color pink but she says nothing, and that's more than enough for Beca.

* * *

The rescue team takes them all back to the nearest mainland, where they are taken in and allowed to rest while a charter flight is made available to take them back home.

Only it's then that Stacie sheepishly tells Beca that she's going to continue on with the race, despite being a few days behind.

"I can definitely gain on Bumper," Stacie says confidently, repacking her supplies and avoiding direct eye contact with Beca.

Beca sadly smiles at her as she watches Stacie move about, fluttering nonstop.

"I'm not upset that you're going on Stacie. Also, you're definitely gonna be able to overtake that bumbling idiot."

Stacie stops bustling about and turns slowly to face Beca, "You're not?"

Beca shakes her head, "No. Of course not."

Stacie crosses over and hugs her tight, "I wish you could be going on too."

Beca nods against her shoulder, hugging her back just as tight, "Yeah. I know. Next time."

Stacie nods and kisses the top of her head, "Let me know you've made it back safe okay? Will you cheer for me?"

Beca grins and slugs her gently on the shoulder, "Who else would I be fucking cheering for dumbass?"

Stacie grins and steps back, "Right, yeah, I mean I _am_ the best out there so."

Beca nods, "Especially now that I'm out of your way."

* * *

Beca watches from the pier as Stacie sets off, joining the race again, seamlessly.

A large part of her is glad that Stacie decided to keep going, happy that she was able to, even after she decided to come after Beca.

The smaller part of Beca is slightly bitter that she can't continue along in the same vein.

"You have no one to blame but yourself," Beca mumbles to herself, sitting down on the pier, dangling her feet above the water, watching as the sun finally sets below the horizon.

"I mean, that may be true, but that doesn't mean you can't be a little upset about it just the same."

Beca yelps, not expecting Chloe's head to pop up right in front of her.

"Jesus! You scared me!"

Chloe bites her lip and giggles as Beca runs her fingers through her hair and tries to calm her racing heart.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright. It's okay, I just, wasn't expecting anyone, especially not from out of the water."

Chloe smiles up at her beautifully, "How are you doing?"

Beca smiles back at her softly, "Much better, thank you. I was worried I wouldn't see you again."

Chloe tilts her head, "You were? Why?"

Beca blushes slightly, "Well…I wanted to thank you. And, I didn't want it all to be a dream…If I never saw you again, I would go my entire life believing it was just a dream."

Chloe reaches out her hand and gently traces across the top of Beca's still dangling foot, "I'm certainly not a dream."

"No, you certainly are not."

Chloe's smile is contagious, and Beca finds herself returning it without knowing.

"Do you think…" Beca trails off, hoping Chloe would let her question remain unfinished.

However, that's not the case at all.

Chloe swims even closer, and gently holds onto Beca's feet for balance, "Do I think, what?"

Beca scrunches her nose and looks away, "Do you think there's a way for…a land person, like me, to take a mer-person, like you, out for dinner…as a thank you?"

Chloe smiles widely, "Yes."

Beca nods her head forlornly, "That's okay yeah, that's what I thought, I mean…wait, what?"

Chloe giggles, " _Yes_. There's a way."

Beca blinks at her in disbelief.

Chloe gently squeezes her feet and whispers, "There _is_ a way."

Beca's brow furrows, "There is?"

Chloe lets out an exasperated laugh, "Yes, there is."

"How?" Beca asks excitedly, eyes wide, "What do you need me to do?"

Chloe looks up at her through her eyelashes and swirls her finger along the top of the water, "Well…you need to make a vow…that, that you won't let harm come to me by exposing my truth."

Beca nods, "I swear, my lips are sealed."

Chloe tugs on her big toe, "And…You need to promise not to hurt me."

Beca swallows, as she nods once again, "I promise, I won't hurt you."

Chloe smiles up at her, "And promise you'll take me back to the water when it's time for me to go."

Beca clears her throat, and very seriously says, "I promise Chloe."

Chloe's stomach flutters at that, "I…I need your hand."

Beca reaches out her hand, and Chloe gently places her own over it.

"Just like that? We're all set?" Beca asks quietly, not wanting to break whatever spell was between them.

Chloe does not answer as just then a growing warmth emanates from their hands and Beca watches in abject amazement as a glow starts to emit from their joined palms. The light is a soft golden glow, and it fills both of them with a sense of calm and ease.

And then, just like that, Chloe's head suddenly dunks down under the water, only to pop back up just as quickly. She gasps as she does so, apparently not having expected that sudden dunk.

Beca is taken aback, because for the first time since she's seen Chloe, she seems to be treading water a little awkwardly. Beca is quick to tell her to go around to where the ladder is off the side of the pier.

Chloe swims over quickly and Beca is yet again taken aback because, now she has a very naked woman standing beside her.

Beca averts her eyes quickly, "Oh Jesus. Here! Here you go," Beca quickly sheds off her jacket and throws it around her shoulders.

Chloe smiles at her brightly, "Thank you!"

Beca is red faced and sputtering, and Chloe thinks it's the most adorable thing she's ever witnessed.

"What's wrong?"

Beca shakes her head, "I- nothing! Nothing is wrong, you're perfect…I mean, yeah, you're perfect. I just…wasn't ready for your nakedness. I don't think, I don't think anyone is ready for your nakedness, I, we need to get you some clothes."

Chloe quirks her lips, "Some clothes, okay."

Beca is thankful that it's dark outside, and even more glad that most of this town calls for an early night. They make their way to the small little cottage like house that Beca is being boarded in until her flight in a few days, and thankfully they didn't meet anyone along the way.

Beca unlocks the front door and beckons Chloe into the house, and she follows her in, eyes wide, taking in every little thing that she can.

"What's that?" Chloe asks, pointing at the large CRT television set.

Beca shuffles towards the bedroom as she answers, "That's a TV…it shows moving pictures."

Beca pulls out a skirt and a blouse, wondering how on earth this is possibly happening when Chloe is suddenly beside her, "For me?"

Beca had expected her to be exploring the rest of the house still, and was surprised by her presence beside her. Her still naked presence.

Beca's face flushes deeper, "Yes, that's, mhm yes, for you."

Chloe bites her lip as she takes them from Beca, "Are you sure? Unless you would rather I didn't…"

Beca's eyes widen and she splutters, "Yes, no. No. I mean, maybe? But not, not now! Definitely not right now. Please…please put some clothes on?"

Chloe giggles and takes pity on the woman, deciding to stop teasing her. She wiggles into the skirt, pleasantly surprised by the feeling of the soft dry fabric. Then she slides her arms into the blouse. She takes her time, admiring the way it feels against her body.

Beca, for the life of her, can't look away once. The way Chloe looks with her hair down and drying, her eyes bright as she fingers the buttons on the blouse, not even attempting to button it closed yet. Her bare feet. _Feet_.

"Do…do you want me to help?" Beca asks stupidly wondering if that was as stupid as she thinks it was.

However, Chloe does not think it's stupid at all because she happily turns towards her fully, and nods, "Please."

Beca offers her a small smile as she buttons up the blouse for Chloe, "You look lovely."

Chloe smiles brightly, "Thank you." Her face is flushed, be it from excitement of all of this, the compliment, or both, Chloe doesn't know.

"Did you actually need help with the buttons?" Beca asks quietly after they walk back out to the living room and Chloe giggles as she leans against Beca, shaking her head a little.

"Not really, but I liked you helping me."

Beca blushes deeper and Chloe bites back another giggle.

"I don't know what you like…but there are plenty of restaurants around here if you would like to take a look? They're very nice around here and they know I was the one on the ship wreck so they tend to like feeding me." Beca asks, her face still extremely warm.

Chloe shrugs her shoulders, "Whatever you'd like," Chloe steps closer and looks down at Beca, a smile playing at her lips, " _You_ wanted to take _me_ out, remember?"

Beca gulps as she looks up into Chloe's seemingly glowing blue eyes, "Mhm, yeah. I remember."

Chloe quirks an eyebrow and grins as she tucks Beca's hair behind her ear, "You're tiny."

Beca quickly scowls, even though her face is entirely too red for it to be meaningful, "Yeah, well…you have incredibly long legs. How is that fair?"

Chloe giggles gently, and taps Beca's cheek lightly as she states matter-of-factly, "You're the perfect height."

Beca's blush does not waver, and she has an inkling she should get used to that feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

_Somewhere out at sea_

"So do you think I've got any chance of winning this, and do you think Beca would ever forgive me if I did?" Stacie asks as she settles down for the time being, hoping for a power nap before needing to man the ship again to keep making headway.

Aubrey, who had been keeping pace remarkably well despite the speed of the boat, is now leaning over the side, lazily swaying her tail back and forth beneath her.

"I don't think you have to worry about your friend forgiving you. From what I've gathered, the both of you are very good friends and have been working on this race for quite some time." Aubrey pauses and then continues, "I think you could most certainly win this race. You're making very smart decisions in your navigations, it's almost as if you have a sixth sense about these weather changes."

Stacie grins at her, "It doesn't hurt to have real incentive either. I can't let Bumper win. It would be one thing to lose to Beca, but not to that stuck up meatball."

Aubrey hums, her eyes showing how amused she really is, "Well, you haven't got Beca to worry about now."

They're silent for a few beats, and Stacie thinks Aubrey may have left her to sleep, but then she hears her take a deep breath and Stacie holds her breath waiting for her to speak.

"If you would like, I could swim ahead…see just how far he is…distract him?" Aubrey adds on as an afterthought, a gleam in her eyes, a playful smirk on her lips.

Stacie sputters, having not expected that to come from Aubrey, who she knows resisted showing herself to her until she simply absolutely had to.

"No- no that's okay, I that's probably cheating? Yeah, probably definitely cheating. I don't…that wouldn't be right, letting him- I mean that's just low isn't it? Way below the belt. That's not playing fair and-"

She cuts herself off when she realizes she can hear Aubrey quietly laughing to herself.

"Oh, you think you're funny huh?" Stacie asks, her cheeks burning, but a smile is making its way to her face regardless.

Aubrey grins and she looks into the cabin, at Stacie's general direction as she nods, "I know I'm funny. Also, although I think being a distraction to Bumper would completely work in your favor… I really don't think you need any of my help at all."

Stacie's stomach flips at that, butterflies and the whole nine yards, her face coloring even more, and she's suddenly very grateful for the cover of darkness.

"Thank you. I'm glad you're so confident in my abilities." Stacie quietly says into the darkness, and she can practically hear Aubrey's smile as she responds.

"Sleep well Stacie."

Stacie holds her breath as she listens carefully for the sound of Aubrey slipping back under the waves.

She can almost convince herself that she heard her go, practically imagine the way the water ripples after her.

Turning slightly to get a little bit more comfortable Stacie mumbles to herself, "You've got it bad missy."

* * *

The restaurant Beca ends up taking Chloe to is a quaint seafood restaurant.

The owner of said establishment had made it abundantly clear when Beca had first met her that she would feed Beca and not accept any IOU's in return.

She had looked at Beca with a fierce determination as she stated, "You've been through enough, the least I can do is make sure you're properly fed til you're back home."

Beca shakes her head slightly at the memory of that meeting and looks at Chloe as they make their way towards the establishment, "So, I was thinking maybe it would be kind of cool for you to try something that you're kinda used to eating, but having it prepared in a whole new way."

Chloe smiles at her, "That sounds very cool."

Beca quirks her lips at her and nods, "Cool."

"How is it going to be prepared?" Chloe asks, gently bumping against Beca and giggling to herself, and points to her newfound legs.

Beca chuckles and surprises herself when she offers Chloe her hand, her face grows rather hot when Chloe readily accepts the offer and laces their fingers together.

Beca blinks and has to try and remember the question Chloe had just asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

Chloe smiles at her brightly, "The food? How is it going to be prepared?"

Beca clears her throat slightly and looks ahead, making sure they don't run into anything, "Well, I mean it would depend on what you would like to have…" she pauses and tilts her head, "I mean the biggest difference you're going to find is the fact that the food is going to be hot, since it's been cooked."

Chloe hums softly, and then asks, "What's your favorite thing to eat?"

Beca curses her mind in that instant because it very seriously went in a not-so-innocent direction in the quickest time, and she isn't sure she can recover from that any time soon.

Beca's ears are burning up, and she's fairly certain her hand has gone sweaty and she's getting more and more nervous because of how much she's blushing, and how embarrassed she is by that.

"Well I-I like to eat lots of different things. I mean- I like, I like pizza. That's good. And cheeseburgers are good. Chinese takeout is pretty awesome. Fish is really good. I like sushi. Sushi! That's like, as of right now, probably the one thing that we both enjoy eating."

Beca stumbles over her words after that, spluttering and trying to stop her mind from picturing-

"Sushi?" Chloe asks, her blue eyes taking in Beca's face.

Beca nods, "It's a Japanese dish…it's raw fish prepared with like rice and veggies, some seaweed…"

Chloe's eyes widen as she grins, "I love seaweed and fish!"

Beca grins back at her, gently squeezing her hand, "I had a feeling."

They walk into the restaurant and are greeted by the owner's son, Jesse, who greets Beca with a large smile and offers Chloe a polite one in greeting too, "I see you've brought a friend along tonight! That's great, I didn't think you had any."

Beca looks at him funny at that comment but doesn't say anything, choosing instead to ignore that weird statement altogether.

"Table for two?" He asks unnecessarily.

Beca nods with a little smile on her face, her focus staying on Chloe who is busy taking in the entire atmosphere of the restaurant, her bright blue eyes wide as she soaks everything in.

Jesse picks up a couple of menus and leads the way to an empty table.

Beca gently tugs Chloe along, and guides her into her seat, regrettably needing to finally let go of her hand.

"Does she not get out much?" Jesse asks, finding it just a little bit odd that someone can find something as normal as a table cloth fascinating enough to inspect so closely.

Chloe's hands can't stop touching all of these dry new materials, she can't help herself, and she doesn't stop even after hearing Jesse's question.

Beca furrows her brows and looks up at Jesse, "Don't be rude."

Jesse quickly raises his hands in silent apology and backs up, "I'll be back in a little bit, if you need me before then just let me know, I'll be over there," he indicates to the spot by the bar and quickly walks away.

Beca takes a deep breath and then turns to focus on Chloe, who is looking at her with a smile on her face, which instantly makes Beca blush, "What is it?"

Chloe just shakes her head slightly, "You look much nicer than the last time we were together."

Beca scoffs but also can't help but grin, "Well yes, last time I had half of the worlds sand stuck in my hair. I've had a shower since then."

Beca mentally smacks herself in the head.

'What is it with me and bringing up showers with her?'

Chloe smiles wider, "And you're dry. We're both dry, and that's not something I'm very used to."

Beca gulps and again mentally scolds herself for her naughty thoughts.

"Everything feels so different," Chloe lifts her hands up and looks at them, slowly tracing the fingertips of one hand along the other, "it's nice."

Her eyes lift to look at Beca, whose eyes had been focused on Chloe's hands.

"Is it?" Beca asks, slowly lifting her gaze to meet Chloe's.

The redhead offers her a soft smile as she nods, "It is…it's very different. I didn't ever realize just how many different textures there could be out here."

Beca's lips quirk in a tiny smile, "I hadn't really thought about how things would be different for you like that. What else is different?"

Chloe leans forward slightly, "Breathing like this all the time is very strange."

Beca looks at her a little funny, "You know, I never would have…how did you breathe under there?"

Chloe tilts her head, "Like I am now, except, well it all feels very different because…it's just air now. Normally, when we're deep in the ocean? Instead of having air in my lungs, it's just all water."

Beca looks a little astounded, "So no gills then?"

Chloe laughs lightly, "No, no gills. We're not _that_ cool."

Beca grins at her, "I think it's pretty cool without the gills. How come you don't have to worry about needing to come up for air like whales and dolphins do?"

Before Chloe can answer Beca starts apologizing, "Is that rude? I probably sound very dumb, I'm so sorry. You don't have to answer any of my questions."

Chloe reaches out and gently slips her hand into Beca's and squeezes reassuringly, "That's not rude and you do not sound dumb at all. I like answering questions, I'm sure I probably have many questions that will come off as dumb to you so-"

Beca shakes her head, "No, absolutely not. You've not asked a single dumb question."

Chloe smiles at her brightly, "Neither have you."

Beca scratches the back of her neck with her free hand and lowers her gaze as she murmurs, "Okay cool."

"To answer your question-"

"So, are you ready to order?" Jesse interrupts, placing a basket of bread and two glasses of water down in front of them.

Beca's head turns to face him so quickly, she's afraid she may have pulled a muscle.

"Uh-we're not ready yet. We've just been seated."

Jesse nods, his eyes don't leave their joined hands, and that makes Beca kind of self-conscious and she finds herself slowly releasing her grip, but Chloe is none the wiser and just continues holding her hand.

"Okay. Alright well, let me know when you've decided."

Jesse backs away slowly, not looking away from them and almost walks right into another member of the waitstaff.

" _Jesse_."

"Sorry! Sorry, are you okay?"

Beca turns her attention away from Jesse, who is acting weird; much weirder than he normally had been acting the part few times she's seen him; and notices Chloe had been watching her closely.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asks suddenly, and Beca finds herself nodding.

"I am yeah, why? Are you not okay?"

Chloe uses her free hand to tap the back of Beca's, the one she's holding, "No, it's just you've let go. It feels like I'm the only one that's hand holding. I thought this was a common human thing?"

Beca blushes as she readjusts her hold, her fingers tremble as she laces their fingers together.

Chloe, having noticed, tilts her head, "Do you want to stop holding hands? I don't mind if that's what you would like to do."

Beca breathes out a laugh, "You make it sound so easy."

"It is easy?" Chloe says in an almost confused manner, "What is difficult about it? If you would like to stop holding hands, we may, I don't want you to be partaking in anything that is uncomfortable for you. I understand perhaps the customs are quite different here. I'm the stranger in this situation and I don't want you to go along with something that's considered abnormal just for my sake."

Beca shakes her head, "You're well within the realm of normal, trust me. I'm the one that's acting silly. I just…this is new for me."

She blushes when she realizes who she's saying this to, and she continues sheepishly with a little lopsided grin, "As I'm sure this all is for you too."

Chloe smiles at her brilliantly, "You're doing a fantastic job." She pauses before continuing, "what's new for you though exactly?"

Beca laughs lightly, "Being on a date," she lowers her voice and leans in closer before she continues, "with a mermaid."

Chloe bites her lip and grins at her, "Well, I've never been on a date with a human before, so we're both navigating through uncharted waters."

Beca nods, "It's nice to be wading through this with you though. I kinda really like your company."

Chloe grins proudly, "I'm very _very_ glad."

Beca clears her throat softly before using her free hand to tap on the menu in front of her, "Do you want to have a look at what they have to offer?"

Chloe nods excitedly, and she quickly squeezes Beca's hand before letting go and opening the menu with both of her hands, her eyes wide as she looks at all the different colors of various appetizers on the pages.

Beca grins widely, enchanted, as she opens her own menu and takes a look.

"A lot of what they're serving is cooked, like I said, but I _think,"_ she pauses as she quickly scans down the menu, "yes, they've actually got some oysters we can-"

Chloe's eyes find hers immediately, "Can we get some?"

Beca nods, "Of course!"

Chloe tilts her head as she looks at all of the different items to choose from.

Beca hums to herself as she studies the other appetizers, "Do you like shrimp? I mean…I know you haven't had them this way but like…in general?"

Chloe nods, "Oh yes, very much."

Beca smiles at her, "Okay, we can get that too…hmm do you see anything that catches your eye?"

Chloe uses her hand and waves it in an arc, and Beca laughs lightly, "Yeah…yeah okay touché."

Chloe grins at Beca, "Everything sounds so intriguing. I don't even know what some of these things are, like…" she looks back down at the menu and says, "what's tater tots?"

Beca looks down and sees Chloe had moved onto the kids menu and she quirks her lips and chuckles, "We can get that too, it's not seafood at all, and honestly it's quite American honestly."

Chloe grins at her excitedly, "Something completely new?"

Beca nods, "Exactly right. Definitely not of the sea."

After a few more minutes, Beca and Chloe both come to an agreement that they've probably got enough food for the both of them, at least for this meal.

Beca lifts her head up a little and searches for Jesse, but she doesn't see him at his spot, but before she can turn to look in the other direction, "Hey! You two ready to order?"

"Jesus!" Beca exclaims, jumping slightly, having not expected Jesse to suddenly appear by their table, having come from the other side of the room.

He chuckles, "Nope, that's Jesse. The other J dude."

Beca is not finding him funny, and Chloe doesn't get the joke, so Jesse is left standing there awkwardly chuckling at his joke, which fell flat.

He clears his throat and moves on quickly, "So uhm, are you two…" he trails off and Beca rolls her eyes.

"Yes. Can we have, a dozen oysters on the half shell, an order of garlic butter shrimp scampi, the tater tots, topped lobster tail, a half portion of the shrimp linguini alfredo and the wood-grilled sea scallops with rice, thank you."

Jesse quickly jots everything down, but before he can say anything Beca continues, "Oh, and uhm two Dr. Peppers. Thanks."

He nods and then looks up from his pad and grins at them, "You know, my mom could have happily made up a sampler platter for you, if you just let me know."

Beca raises her eyebrow, "Well, I mean if we had wanted the sampler platter, we would have asked for it…"

"No yeah, it's just. That's a lot of food for the two of you…" Jesse starts off strong but he trails off as he realizes perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say.

He doesn't give Beca time to say anything though because he quickly turns as he says, "I'll bring out the apps as soon as they're ready, I'll get your drinks! I'll be back in a jiffy."

Beca groans and laughs under her breath and even Chloe knows Jesse had put his foot in his mouth.

After a beat Beca shakes her head and clicks her tongue, sharing an amused look with Chloe.

"Your mouth is in for a real treat," Beca says, wanting to completely move away from talking about the disaster that is their waiter Jesse.

Chloe flutters her eyelashes at Beca sweetly, "I can't wait."

Beca gulps and nods, "Yeah, yeah me neither. I cant wait to see what you think about all of this food. I think it's kind of really exciting, is that weird?"

Chloe shakes her head as she smiles at Beca, "I don't think it is. I'm fairly excited to try everything you picked out for us."

Beca offers her a lopsided grin, "I also can't wait for you to try some Dr. Pepper. It's really good."

Chloe reaches for her glass of water and takes a sip, and her nose scrunches up.

"What is it?" Beca asks, slightly concerned.

Chloe scrunches up her face some more before going back in for another sip, "It…there's a taste to it."

Beca takes a sip from her own glass, and shakes her head, "I can't tell. It tastes like good water to me."

Chloe quirks her lips at her, "It's not _bad_ , it's just so brand new. I've never tasted water like this before."

Beca chuckles, "Considering the times I've had some pretty funky tasting water, I'm glad this is your first experience with it."

Chloe leans forward and smiles at her widely, and just as Beca take another sip, Chloe says, "I'm glad I got to experience my first time with you."

Beca's eyes go wide and she nearly chokes on her water.

Chloe, ever so proud of herself, leans back in her seat and bites her lip as she basks in the feeling of accomplishment, having gotten Beca to once again blush profusely.


End file.
